Ford wants to cut back incentives, said Bill Ford, Ford Motor Co.´s CEO, in an interview with USA Today. Over the next six months, the automaker will rely on new models being launched to regain market share.

Since Bill Ford took over the company in October 2001, its share of new-vehicle sales has dropped from 23.2 percent to 19.7 percent. That translates into 500,000 fewer vehicles sold. In the same period, the company´s incentives almost doubled to about $3,611 per vehicle, according to Autodata.

Ford lost market share because it tried to sell old, non-updated models against its competitors´ new designs and variety of offerings, Ford said. He expects that to change with the seven models being introduced, including the redesigned Mustang, the hybrid Escape and the Five Hundred sedan.

Ford said he might let Chevrolet outsell the Ford brand for the first time in 17 years instead of pouring more money into costly incentives to keep Ford the best-selling brand. The Ford brand sold 23,083 more vehicles than the Chevrolet brand in October.

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